Mail-bag receiver.



v MATHEWS..- MAIL BAG RECEIVER. VAPPLICAT-ION man SEPT-2?; 1915.

Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

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3140011 foz 0/144 MA THE FHOTD-UTHO bySACKETTA WlLH ELMS CORP. N Y

O. MATHEWS.

' MAIL BAG RECEIVER.

APPLICAT|0N FILED SEPT-27. 19215.

Patented Apr. 1916.

3' SHEETS,S,HEET 22' 314 1524 I fo'a Q/ Q' Waffi n wummw O. MATHEWS.

v MAIL BAG RECEIVER. APPLICATION FILED SEPTJZYI, x915.

Patented Apr. 4,1916.

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* Y -"ApplicationfiledSeptember27, 1915.. Seria1N'o.52;925.

-UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OMA. MATHEWS, OI GADSJjEN, ALABAMA;

MAIL-BAG RECEIVER.

To all whomit meyco ncem: h Beitknown-th'at LOMA MATHEWS, a c1t1- zen ofthe United-States, residing at Grads,

den in the county of .Etowa-h and. State of Alabama, have inventedcertain new' and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Receivers; and I 'dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, su'ch as will enable others skilled in the art towhich it make and use the same.

8 "This invention relates to railway mail delivery, and-more especiallyto receivers; and the'object of the same is to produce-a' receptacleadapted for location alongside the track to receiv'ebags from the craneon v the mail'car and hold them until removed by an authorized person. I

' The invention comprises improvements in certain details of'structure-as more fully described in the following specification'andSllOWIlin 'the drawings whereln Figured is a? perspective view of, this.device set ready for the bag which is dia-- grammaticallysho'wn' asapproaching. Fig.

2 1s an inner end elevation with the casing wall removed so'as to showthe latchmgand tripping mechanism, that at one side being set and thatat the'other side tripped. Fig.- 3 is a verticalzlongitudinal sectionthrough a device closed,v showing the catches on the farther door. Fig.4 is a horizontal sec tion takenljustbeneath the pan. Fig. 5 is avertical longitudinalsection of-a' slight and Fig. 6 is a perspectivedetail of the modification ingwhich' the pan is hinged,

modified form of buffer;

These receivers are commonly mounted on supports or seton the groundalongside the railway track T- 'and' in position where a mail bag Bcarried by a crane C which 1s swung outward from a moving mail car,

may be dropped into them; and ingeneral they receive the ha and becomeautomatically'locked or'latc ed in closed position so that no-one canremove the bag except an authorized person who has the Government mailkey; The purpose of the present invention is to construct such areceiver entirely of metal so treated that it is weatherproof, and toprovide it with a movable buifer so that it will knock the bag-from thecrane on a car moving in either direc- In the drawings which show thepre- Specification of Letters Patent.

appertains to Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

' tion, the numeral .1 designates a box-like receptacle open at the topand bottom and having in one side wall a suitable opening closed by ahinged door 2 which may. be locked -with the Government mail padlock 3that can be opened only by the post ofiice key as braced as at-8 withthe lower ends of the braces connected at 9 with theside bars,

and the buifer itself may carry'netting 10 or its equivalent. It isobvious that when this buffer isadjusted as seen in Fig. 1 andtheapproaching, bag B strikes it, the bag will be stripped from thesupporting hook on the crane O and dropped into the upper end of thereceptacle. should be nicelymounted in the guides 4, it is quitepossible that if the bag were moving in a direction the-opposite of thearrow, and struck. the buffer, the frame would slide in its guides untilit came to rest in its oppo- 'site position before the bag were removed'from the crane. It is my intention that the buffer shall be set by theoperator who sets the receptacle in a manner to be described below. e l

The open top ,of the receptacle is closed by a pairofhinged doors orgates 11, each supported on a rod 12 extending longitudinally across itand through the end panels of thereceptacle, and on the inner faces ofsaid panels near their upper edges are rests If the support 6 13" forsupporting the inner edges of the gates when the latter are closed andholding them in inclined position. Spring catches 14 on the under sideof said inner edges are adapted to automatically engage these rests andto, hold the gates closed, and these catches can .be disengaged onlyfrom the interior and therefore by the operator when he reaches throughthe main door 2. There fore after the device has acted to receive a bagit locks the same within itself so that it cannot be removed by anunauthorized person, but when the operator approaches with theGovernment mail key and opens a the main door to take out the bag he canreset the gates for subsequent operation, and then he again locks thedoor Q'before he goes away.

One end 'end of each rod 12 is a-cam 21 which may be weightedor-may .beacted-lonbyiaaspring 22, and in either case" its tendency is to throwthe gate 11 closed. Pivoted beneath the cam is a latch 23 having a hook24: at its lighter outer end adapted to engage the heel of the cam whenthe gate is thrown open. Sliding through a guide 25 between the twolatches and held normally raised by a spring 26 is a bolt' 27 formingpartof the trip mechanism, and to the head of the bolt are pivoted two.trip levers 28 whose bodies rest on stops 29- and whose outer andheavier ends stand under the inner heavier ends of the trip levers.Therefore when the bolt is drawn downward against the tension of itsspring the trip levers are thrown upward and the latches are turned ontheir pivots so that their hooks are disengaged from the heels of thecams, after which the weight of the cams or the springs 22 will throwthe gates closed, and their catches automatically engage the rests 13 tohold them closed.

Within the receptacle is a false bottom which may well be called a pan30 as it is movablymoun'ted therein and supported by lever mechanismwhich approximates that supporting the pan of a scale, as seen in Fig.

i 4. That is to say, a Y-shaped lever 31 has the extremities of its armspivotally supported as at 32 at one side of the base and the otherextremity of its shank connected to a chain or wire 33 which leadsupward and is attached .to the trip mechanism; while a V-shaped'lever 34has the extremities of its arms pivotally supported at 35 within theopposite side of the base and its angle pivotally connected at 36 withthe fork of the Y-shaped lever 31; and both arms of both membersunderlie flanges 37 dependin from the pan 30 as best seen in Fig. 3.

herefore the weight of thebag falling on this pan at any point iscommunicated by the lever mechanism to the wire 33 and the tripmechanism actuated.

In Fig; 5 is shown a slight modification wherein this lever mechanism is,modified for the sake of simplicity and cheapness.

' Here the pan 410 is pivotally supported or hinged as at 42 within oneside of the base,

panel of the receptacle is covered by a casing 20 which incloses thetripplng "mechanism best seen inFig. 2. Fast onthis I lever mechanismactuates the tripping mechanism so that the latches free the cams andthe gates fly closed. Their catches hold them closed, and the bag isprotected from weather and from being reached by an unauthorized person.The operator when he arrives can unlock the door 2 and remove thebag,'and he can-then reach in and unlatch the spring catches 14 andreset the gates forythe' reception of the next succeeding bag; andat'this time he will set the buffer at the correspondinglypropersideaccording to the direction of the next appreaching t'rain.

What I claim is:

1..In a mail bag receiver, thecombination with a receptacle havingan'open top,

and means for closing it automatically when abag is dropped therein; ofhorizontalguides' across the ends of said top, a support in the shape ofa frame twice the length of the width of said top. and whose side barsare slidably mounted in its guides, and a buffer rising rigidly from thecenter of said side bars.

2. In a mail bag receiver',the combination with an open-toppedreceptacle, and a buffer adjustably mounted so that it may be set overeither edge thereof; of a pair of gates hingedly-moanted within the topof said receptacle, means for throwing them normally closed, latchesengaging said means for holding the gates open, and tripping mechanismfor said latches actuated by the dropping of a bag into the receptacle.

3. In a mail bag receiver, the combination with anopen-toppedreceptacle, and a buffer adjustably mounted so that it may beset over either edge thereof; of a pair of gates hingedly mounted withinthe top of said receptacle. means for throwing them normally closed,latches engaging said means for holding the gates open, a pan movablymounted within the receptacle, mechanism for tripping said; latches, andconnections between the pan and mechanism for actuating the latter whena bag falls on the pan.

4. In a mail bag receiver, the combination with a receptacle having an.open top, gates hinged therein-,wmeans for throwing them normallyclosed, and latches for resisting the action of said means; of a movablepan within the receptacle, lever-mechanism for supporting it, triplevers underlying said latches, a spring-raised bolt connected with saidlevers, and connections between said bolt and mechanism, for the purposeset forth.

I 5. In a mailbag receiver, the combination with an open-toppedreceptacle, a gate mounted in its top, a rod supporting the gate andjournaled in the ends of the receptacle, a cam fast on one extremity ofthe rod, a pan within the'receptacle below the gate,

end lever mechanism for supporting.

the pan; of a pivoted latch weighted at one end and having a hook at itsother end adapted to engage the heel of the cam xwhen the'gate .is open;

lying a stop and having one heavy end underlying the heavy en a triplever over- (1 of said latch, and

- oMA MATHEWS.

